The new survey is out today: Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has narrowly kept his title as the “most unpopular governor in America.”
As many Kansans realize, it’s a well-deserved “honor” for a governor whose policies have pretty much destroyed the state budget.
Brownback had to beat out some tough competitors for the title.
The survey from Morning Consult made a special point of noting that Brownback is even more unpopular in his home state than Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is in his even given the Flint water crisis.
“Despite national outrage being directed to Snyder and his administration, he does not have the worst approval rating” in the country, the authors wrote.
The survey culled information from more than 66,000 voters in all 50 states from January until May.
The result for Brownback is that only 26 percent of Kansas voters approve of the job he’s doing — and a whopping 65 percent disapprove.
Those are the same numbers he had in November, the last time this kind of survey came out.
Here’s the most important thing about the poll, beyond the embarrassment it brings to the Sunflower State.
Brownback’s lack of popularity could hurt him later this fall as he tries to keep a majority of ultra-conservative Republicans in the Kansas Legislature.
He may not be able to successfully campaign for House and Senate candidates he wants to keep in office, for fear that voters might reject those candidates because of their close association with the governor.
In turn, that could help moderate Republicans — especially in Johnson County — and Democrats regain enough seats to bring more sanity back to the Legislature.
Immediately behind Brownback in the Morning Consult survery were Dan Malloy, a Connecticut Democrat, who had a 29 percent approval rating; Snyder, a Republican; Chris Christie, a New Jersey Republican; and Paul LePage, a Maine Republican.
Beyond Snyder, all have had their own well-publicized problems in their home states.
On the flip side, America’s most popular governor is Gov. Charlie Baker, a Massachusetts Republican, followed by Larry Hogan, a Maryland Republican.
Yael T. Abouhalkah: 816-234-4887, abouhalkah@kcstar.com, @YaelTAbouhalkah